Agentive

//əˈd͡ʒɛntɪv// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A word having an agentive construction.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Indicating an agent or agency (as -er in lexicographer). not-comparable
  2. 2
    Pertaining to a grammatical agent that performs the action of the verb. not-comparable

    "On the other hand, she concedes that she has been able (in however limited a fashion) to take agentive actions to facilitate others’ socialization into and through Mandarin through programmatic activities she has contributed to. Thus, agency does not necessarily result in one’s own (sinophone or other) learning goals but may mediate others’ socialization, even when the facilitating or socializing agent is not herself an expert in the Chinese language."

Example

More examples

"On the other hand, she concedes that she has been able (in however limited a fashion) to take agentive actions to facilitate others’ socialization into and through Mandarin through programmatic activities she has contributed to. Thus, agency does not necessarily result in one’s own (sinophone or other) learning goals but may mediate others’ socialization, even when the facilitating or socializing agent is not herself an expert in the Chinese language."

Etymology

From agent + -ive.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.